The Story of Selling Land

Leviticus 25:23-34

Beth's family owned their house and the house next door to their house. One day, when Beth was very, very little, her father sold the house to a Mr. and Mrs. Leviteson. After a few years, he threw them out without giving back any of their money.
After that, the Levitesons sent many nasty letters to Beth's father and made nasty phone calls. They even sent a man in a suit to talk to her father.
This all puzzled Beth. "If Father sold Mr. and Mrs. Leviteson the house, isn't it theirs forever?" she asked her mother one day.
"Oh, no, Dear One," answered her mother. "The Bible tells us differently. Here, come sit on my lap and I'll tell you all about it."
And this is the story she told:

One day, God was giving his laws and here is what he said, "Don't sell your land forever because the land is mine. If your brother is poor and sells some of his stuff, his relatives can come and buy it back any time they want to. If your brother can't buy it back himself and his relatives don't buy it back for him, then he just has to wait until the year of jubilee and he can take it back."

"Wait a minute, Mother," said Beth. "What is the year of jubilee? I haven't seen that on the calendar."
"Every fiftieth year is the year of jubilee, Dear One," said her mother. "Listen, there's more."

"If a man sells a house that is in a city surrounded by walls, then he can take buy it back any time within a year of when he sold it. If he doesn't, then he can't ever have it back. But if the house isn't in a city that is surrounded by walls, then he can buy it back any time he wants to or he can just wait for the year of jubilee and take it back, free.
"This doesn't count if the house is in the city of the Levites. You can buy one of those houses back any time. Houses in Levite cities always return to their original owners in the year of jubilee, too, because they belong to the Israelis. You can't sell fields in the suburbs, though. They're yours forever."

Beth thought about this for a moment. "Wow, that's neat!" she said. "Let's sell it again right away!" Then she smiled and hugged her mother. All her questions had been answered.